SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — Lyme disease is considered an epidemic in Central New York. It can be frustrating trying to get a diagnosis and treatment plan, but hope is on the horizon in the form of a first-of-its-kind center.
It’s not quite a million-dollar idea, but the investment could be priceless.
Upstate Medical University is using an $898,000 federal grant to create a Multidisciplinary Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease Treatment Center. They’ll bring top doctors in their field under one roof to diagnose and treat Lyme and other tick-borne diseases.
Having a true multidisciplinary clinic would be the goal, where you know, you have infectious disease providers as well as other providers to help support some of the chronic symptoms that people have.
Doctor Kris Paolino
Paolino specializes in Lyme disease and says it can be complex.
Patients often need doctors from a multitude of specialties such as Rheumatology, Neurology, Integrative Medicine, etc. to help tackle different symptoms.
Oftentimes, they end up on wait lists for each doctor.
By creating a center that encompasses multiple specialties under one umbrella, the hope is to help streamline the recovery process for patients.
“It would be nice to have this kind of a clinic and get people in and plugged in a more rapid manner, if possible,” Paolino said.
The money is there but they still have a lot to flush out. Including where this clinic will go and who will be involved.
One thing is for certain though; the new center will help advance Upstate’s treatment and research.
“I think the other big thing I like is the ability to potentially integrate clinical research into what we’re doing,” said Paolino. “I think all these things would be exciting to the region for people who are either dealing with Lyme disease or know people who are dealing with Lyme disease.”
There’s no timeline at this point for the center, but we’ll let you know when there is.
